Current plush characters often do not hold children's attention and do not encourage social play. They are limited to push-button interaction or static play. Furthermore, video game culture is consuming an ever-younger demographic and physical toys are doing little to compete. Current plush toys serve a massive global user base, yet severely lack innovation. Little improvement has been made to the first randomized sound box introduced by Mattel in the 1950's whose basic function still serves as the industry standard. Children may be momentarily entranced by how they spew sayings for a couple days, then relegate the toys in a pile at the foot of their beds.
Physical and social interactions with current plush toys are also limited. Parents tend to buy toy after toy in an attempt to keep their kids occupied and away from video games. They rely on school and camps to force social interactions and organized after-school programs to keep their kids from endless hours of screen time. Brick-type toys (such as LEGOs™), while popular and expensive, are built in a day and left on the shelf. Few toys facilitate physical interaction. More and more, parents give in to the “video game play-date” as parents do not have time to supervise a physical alternative.
In addition, many electronic toys are available on the market that offer various modes of gameplay. However, certain modes of play that require detection of fine movement are not available due to the prohibitive cost of such detection. Thus, there is a need in the art for a low-cost, motion-sensitive plush toy to enable these modes of play and encourage physical and social interaction.